Happy Friday! We had a very exciting week in Exploring Music 6! This week we kicked off our unit on music technology! Monday we began by watching a video on how Ipads can be used as an instrument. Check out the video of the "Ipad Symphony" by clicking HERE!

We started by creating some classroom rules on Ipad care to keep our new "instruments" in the best condition they can be in. We had lots of fun exploring the different sounds and instruments on Garageband. Ask your student how many instrument choices there! We spent a lot of time talking about "Smart Instruments". These options in Garageband are pre-recorded chords. Instead of actually playing the chords, all the students have to do is hit the letter of the chord they would like and the "Smart Instrument" plays that chord in the sound that the students have selected. Below are three examples of "Smart Instruments"

Tuesday we were introduced to pre-recorded loops and MIDI (short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) instruments. We explored the different loop options and created a song using both the pre-recorded sounds on our Ipads. We featured at least 5 different instruments using just the pre-recorded loops.

We spent the rest of the week completed the "Garageband Challenge". In this project students worked individually, and they were challenged to familiarize themselves with the Garageband app. Students had to utilize both pre-recorded loops as well as music they had composed and recorded themselves to create a song that lasted one minute. For a complete look at the project requirements click HERE.

Friday we played all of our projects for the rest of the class. We discussed what we liked about the project, what we observed about the project, and what we wonder we could have done differently to improve upon the project. At the end of class we completed a project reflection.

Be sure to check ParentPortal for the grades on these projects! The grades will be posted by Monday afternoon at the latest!

Our final week of World Percussion has come to an end! We have had so much fun exploring different traditional African instruments, playing in percussion ensembles, creating our own percussion instruments, and composing some percussion music, too!

Even though we had a short week, we focused on learning one last ensemble called "High Life". This ensemble incorporated a high drum, a medium drum, a low drum, an acousti-block, güiro, shekeres, and even featured our bodies as instruments, too! Click here to hear a recording of the ensemble!

Throughout this unit, we have focused on several world percussion vocabulary terms. Students' kept a list of these terms in definitions in their folders. We added one almost every day that we met throughout the unit! In fact, we have a total of 12 words! We wrapped up the week by reviewing for our Word of the Day test which will take place today (Friday). Click here to see our word of the day list! Be sure to check parent portal for your child's grades - they will be up by Monday afternoon.

Happy Friday of Columbus Day weekend! We have had a very fun and productive week in Exploring Music as a Language 6!

To kick off the week, we started by looking at different "non-traditional" objects that could be used as percussion instruments. We watched a Blueman group performance that used an instrument made out pipes that is called a "drumbone".

Check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxUV78Iz6no

Students then learned that they would have the opportunity to create their own percussion instrument out of materials they found at home! Students spent the next class composing in groups. Students notated their compositions incorporating rhythmic notation using half, quarter, and eighth notes. We then performed for the class! Check out the slide show below to see some of the great instruments students created and some of the compositions, too!

We wrapped up the week by learning how to incorporate movement and singing with percussion. We learned a song called "Take Time in Life" from the country of Liberia located in Africa. Students decided that the song was used as a means of communication to share the message to enjoy life with others. "Take Time in Life" incorporates 5 percussion instruments, singing, and movement. Ask your student if they can name all of the percussion instruments that we used!

It's crazy to think that we have been exploring the musical language for FOUR weeks already! We are very excited to share what we have been up to in room 100 with you!

Last week, Friday, we finished up our guitar unit! Students performed the song "Ode to Joy". Ask your student what famous musical genius composed "Ode to Joy"! Students also showed their musical growth by demonstrating their knowledge of the history of guitar, famous guitar players, and the parts of the guitar on a written test. Each student did very well on both parts of the guitar final. Grades were posted last week, so check your parent portal!

Monday was a very exciting day for us as we began our unit on world percussion! Throughout the week, we talked about Africa and the different instruments we will be playing in class. Ask your student if they can name them! We looked at congas, shekeres, gankogui, and acousti-blocks. We had fun trying to guess how to pronounce some of the instrument names! We created drum circles and are working on our first ensemble performance where each student will hold their own part on an instrument!

Check out the slideshow below to see some pictures of us exploring world percussion!